ECB Minutes Add Fuel to Expectations of Further Stimulus

Summary of ECB January meeting offers insights into why governing council is preparing to act again

Tom Fairless

FRANKFURT—European Central Bank policy makers widely agreed at their January policy meeting that the risks for the eurozone’s $11 trillion economy have increased amid financial-market volatility and weakness in emerging markets, underlining the bank’s readiness to provide additional stimulus if needed in March.

But a summary of the meeting, published on Thursday, shows a breadth of opinion within the bank’s 25-member governing council over how to respond to sluggish growth and persistently low inflation in the euro area. At...